On Oprah today

[sierra21]

I don't know if anyone else was watching Oprah today, but it was a disturbing show. It was about this man (David) who killed his five-year-old twins. He stabbed them to death.

He was severely depressed and says this is why he murdered his daughters.

His wife forgives him and continues a marriage with him (despite the fact that he will be serving two life sentences in prison).

His wife also continues to live in the house that he murdered their daughters in. She seems VERY detached from the situation, and I don't believe she has a strong understanding of what has taken place.

THey both believe that he should not be serving the sentence that he is. They think he needs help, and punishment is not the way to fix the situation. Based on the 911 tape that they played, i have no doubt that David was mentally unstable...however, that does not change the fact that he murdered his own children.

David said several times in the interview with Oprah that he had thoughts of killing his wife and family, yet did not say anything to anyone (including his wife and therapist). He said the reason he didn't say anything was because he did not want to lose his children. He also stated that the reason he did not kill himself was because his wife asked him not to.

Just wondering what everyone thinks of this.

Sierra

[stitchy]

I think it's true that the punishment isn't really the way to fix the problem. This is a man who needs serious therapy and help with his depression. I find it a shame that these things aren't recognised until after something terrible happens. I don't know about in the US, but here in New Zealand, our mental health system is failing us because "at risk" people aren't recognised to be at risk until it's too late and some serious damage has been done.

He did murder his children, and that is a severe enough punishment. He has to live with that on his shoulders for the rest of his life. It is a terrible thing to have happened, and it makes it very hard for other people to try and understand - but I think understanding is really what people suffering with depression really need. They need people to support them and be patient with them, rather than "punish" them and turn their backs on them. Saying "you did this and it's wrong" and then leaving him to sit in jail and think about it is only going to make his mental condition worse.

I too suffer from depression (though I am happy to say that through the prayers of people on this site, and my own prayers, God is curing me of it every day ) so I can relate to having destructive feelings.

When a person is depressed - well, at least in my own case, when I am depressed - they're not themselves. I know for a fact that I become a completely different person when I'm down. A friend of mine told me that it was really scary when I was like that. Understanding and support from the people I love was always what got me through.

I'm not saying the man should be let off scott-free because of his mental condition. But I think that during his prison sentence he should definitely be getting some serious psychological help, otherwise he'll just continue to be depressed for the rest of his life and end up killing someone else, or himself.

I think we should pray for this man's salvation.

[darski]

I would be interested in knowing what Oprah thought of this.

[sierra21]

I would be interested in knowing what Oprah thought of this.

From what I could understand- she found it despicable. I'm pretty sure she thought that he should be in jail for what he did...although of course she did not portray this on stage. She did mention that she thought David made a "choice" in not telling anyone about his thoughts of killing his family.

[stitchy]

I would be interested in knowing what Oprah thought of this.

From what I could understand- she found it despicable. I'm pretty sure she thought that he should be in jail for what he did...although of course she did not portray this on stage. She did mention that she thought David made a "choice" in not telling anyone about his thoughts of killing his family.

This kind of thing makes me so sad. It's very easy to judge a situation when you're standing on the outside looking in.

Everybody makes mistakes, we should all know that no human is perfect. I'm sure if Oprah started having crazy thoughts of killing people, she wouldn't tell anyone.

[Floatingaxe]

Everybody makes mistakes,

Wow! I don't like hearing that! This is that last place I would think of where I would come across the usage of that phrase. It was no mistake. It was a vile, Satan-directed act of SIN.

[stitchy]

This is not a case of someone simply making a mistake. This is a man that murdered his children! It doesn't take a whole lot of thought to make a judgement in such a case. I have been depressed myself as have most people, but that doesn't justify my becoming a killer.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to justify what he did. But I still don't think we have the right to judge anyone else. God will do that at the end of all things. There is no possible way for any of us to know the full extent of what he has gone through in his life, and with his depression.

No, there is no justifying it, but I still think it's better to offer help and understanding rather than just killing him off or leaving him to rot in prison.

[Floatingaxe]

We certainly have duty under God to judge for righteousness. That is our job.

[sierra21]

I would be interested in knowing what Oprah thought of this.

From what I could understand- she found it despicable. I'm pretty sure she thought that he should be in jail for what he did...although of course she did not portray this on stage. She did mention that she thought David made a "choice" in not telling anyone about his thoughts of killing his family.

This kind of thing makes me so sad. It's very easy to judge a situation when you're standing on the outside looking in.

Everybody makes mistakes, we should all know that no human is perfect. I'm sure if Oprah started having crazy thoughts of killing people, she wouldn't tell anyone.

I don't think anyone is judging. We're simply looking at what has happened. This man had enough logic to say "i can't tell anyone about these thoughts because they might take my children away", but he didn't have enough logic to say "whoa, I'm feeling like I might kill my children, I need to get out of here NOW" ????

Give me a break. It's ridiculous to validate this situation by saying "everyone makes mistakes" because I don't know about you, but I haven't made the "mistake" of killing my family lately...

Whether or not he was depressed he had a responsibility to let SOMEONE know what was going on in his head, especially since it was concerning the children he supposedly LOVED.

[stitchy]

This man had enough logic to say "i can't tell anyone about these thoughts because they might take my children away", but he didn't have enough logic to say "whoa, I'm feeling like I might kill my children, I need to get out of here NOW" ????

That is a very good point. Though, when you get depressed enough you often lose the ability to think rationally. That's the type of thing that makes people want to commit suicide and then actually go through with it.. you know?

Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that it was perfectly fine for him to kill his children. It's terrible. But I just think with more peace and understanding from people, this kind of thing can be prevented (or in this man's case, prevented from happening again).

The devil got him... I think he desperately needs some sort of help right now, so he can't be influenced by satan again.

I'm not trying to anger anyone here. I think I've been misunderstood because I'm the kind of person that believes that above all, God wants peace and harmony on earth. I don't think that starts with us saying "this man should be killed for what he's done".